1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stack of folded wet wipes which are arranged to provide improved dispensability and stability. The invention particularly concerns a substantially rectangular stack of folded wet wipes which has a substantially planar top surface which allows the consumer to more easily grasp the leading end edge of the top wet wipe.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wet wipes are well known commercial consumer products which have been available in many forms. Perhaps the most common form of wet wipes has been a stack of moistened sheets which have been packaged in a plastic container. The wet wipes have been made from a variety of materials which have been moistened with a variety of suitable wiping solutions. Typically, the wet wipes have been available in either folded or unfolded configurations. For example, stacks of wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes in the stack has been arranged in a folded configuration such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration as are well known to those skilled in the art. Each folded wet wipe has also been interfolded with the wet wipes immediately above and below in the stack of wet wipes. In an alternative configuration, the wet wipes have been in the form of continuous webs of material which include perforations to separate the individual wet wipes and which are wound into rolls and packaged in plastic containers. Such wet wipes have been used for baby wipes, hand wipes, household cleaning wipes, industrial wipes and the like.
The conventional packages which contain stacks of wet wipes, such as those described above, have been designed to provide one at a time dispensing which can be accomplished using a single hand. Such single handed, one at a time dispensing is particularly desirable because the other hand of the user is typically required to be simultaneously used for other functions. For example, when changing a diaper product on an infant, the user typically uses one hand to hold and maintain the infant in a desired position while the other hand is removing the product and searching for a wet wipe, such as a baby wipe, to clean the infant. However, the dispensing of wet wipes which have been folded and arranged in such stacks has not been completely satisfactory. For example, users of the wet wipes have had difficulties recognizing and grasping the edges of each individual wet wipe to dispense or remove the wet wipe from the package. Typically, the individual wet wipes in the stack are folded such that the leading edge of each wet wipe is folded over upon another portion of the wet wipe. In use, the user will frictionally drag from one to three fingers across the top surface of the stack of wet wipes in an attempt to peelingly lift the leading end edge of the top wet wipe from the stack of wet wipes. However, the leading end edge of each wet wipe in such a folded configuration has tended to have an affinity for the other portions of the wet wipe especially when the wet wipes have been arranged in a stacked configuration for a period of time.
Moreover, the end edges of successive folded wet wipes in such stacks have typically been arranged in a vertical alignment, one on top of the other. Such alignment of the end edges of successive wet wipes has undesirably resulted in a recess or ridge at or near the end edges of each wet wipe due to the material thickness differences in the stack. A recess has been particularly evident in stacks of z-folded wet wipes which are arranged to provide a gap between the leading and trailing end edges of each wet wipe. Whereas, a ridge has been particularly evident in stacks of z-folded wet wipes which are arranged to provide an overlap between the leading and trailing end edges of each wet wipe. The recess or ridge has resulted in stacks which have a nonplanar top surface which have not been aesthetically pleasing to the consumer. Typically, the leading end edge of the top wet wipe in the stack of wet wipes is located in or on the recess or ridge. As a result, in use, it has been undesirably difficult for the user to locate and peelingly lift the leading end edge of each wet wipe from the other portions of the wet wipe to facilitate the dispensing of each wet wipe from the stack of wet wipes.
The difficulties encountered in dispensing the wet wipes has been particularly evident in stacks of wet wipes which have a greater amount of solution and in stacks of wet wipes which have a greater number of wet wipes. For example, each wet wipe and, in particular, the edges of each wet wipe have had an increased affinity for the other portions of the wet wipe and the adjacent wet wipe in the stack as the amount of solution in the stack has increased. Moreover, as the number of wet wipes in the stack has increased, the size of the recess or ridge in the stack due to the location of the folded over end edges has also undesirably increased making it more difficult for the user to locate and grasp the leading end edge of the top wet wipe with one hand to dispense the wet wipe. Accordingly, it remains desirable to provide a stack of folded wet wipes which has a planar top surface without a ridge or recess to provide improved dispensability and stability of the wet wipes.
Generally, it is also desirable that the dimensions of each wet wipe in the stack are substantially identical to provide a substantially rectangular, stable stack which is easier to package and more aesthetically pleasing. However, the control of the dimensions of each wet wipe in many conventional stacks of wet wipes, such as those described above, has not been completely satisfactory. For example, many conventional stacks of wet wipes have included wet wipes which have variable, folded and unfolded length and width dimensions. Such variable dimensions have resulted in stacks which are skewed and unstable. Thus, it also remains desirable to control the manufacturing of the wet wipes such that the dimensions of each wet wipe, such as the total unfolded width, folded width, and location of the fold line or fold lines, in the stack are substantially constant to provide a more stable and aesthetically pleasing stack.